Vin Diesel took to Instagram to share his own thoughts on the feud brewing between his Fast & Furious costars Tyrese Gibson and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson — but was he throwing shade at the Baywatch star?
Posting a photo with the WWE star, the Last Witch Hunter actor began his post by writing, “Brotherhood… and all it’s complexities. This scene was filmed in Puerto Rico, I can remember it like it was yesterday. Such a beautiful island, the people were so warm and welcoming. I turned 43 that summer… and my son Vincent was born.”
“A woman named Jan Kelly responded to a question I had asked on Facebook, ‘who they would like to see me work with?’ She said would love to see me work with Dwayne… I listened to her request and he became Hobbs,” the action star, 50, wrote, insinuating that it was his decision to cast Johnson for the Fast & Furious franchise.
“I know there has been a lot of speculation as to why the Fast 9 release date was pushed… but it would be unfair to say it is anyone’s fault. As we plot the course to expand the Fast & Furious universe, one must be mindful to take stock of the roads we took to get here. The pillars of authenticity, family and most importantly, our loyal fan’s perspective has been instrumental in procuring success,” Diesel continued.
“However, like any vehicle that has run around the globe 8 times, the franchise is in need of maintenance. My good friend and the godfather of Universal, Ron Meyer has granted me the time to do just that,” he added. “We have some very exciting news to share soon… stay tuned. Yours truly, Dom #FamilyAlways”
His Fast & Furious co-star Ludacris commented on the post with two emojis depicting arms making muscles.
Diesel’s post came on the heels of Gibson’s social media rants, where he’s shared several posts on Twitter and Instagram blaming Johnson for delaying the ninth film in the Fast & Furious franchise because he is starring in a Hobbs spinoff with Jason Statham. “#PSA Congratulations to @TheRock and your brother in law aka 7 bucks producing partner @hhgarcia41 for making the fast and the furious franchise about YOU,” Gibson, 38, wrote on Instagram. “And like you, DJ even if they call I will not be deleting this post.”
Gibson took his frustration to Twitter in scathing posts directed towards Johnson on Friday, October 6, writing, “the real selfish #CandyAss revealed and why you on twitter..???? You lost my number right? I’m at you when I see you #Family” and “you still promoting a movie that no one wants to see made you clown FOH.”
““He’s on twitter and won’t hit my cell @TheROck this is the people’s champ? #ShawHobbsEpicFailure you came here to break up the fast family,” he added in the since-deleted tweets. Us Weekly has reached out to Johnson’s rep for comment.
The Baby Boy actor also called out Johnson in a September post that stated, “If you move forward with that #Hobbs Movie you will have purposely ignored the heart to heart moment we had in my sprinter. I don’t wanna hear from you until you remember what we talked about. I’m on your timeline cause you’re not responding to my text messages – #FastFamily is just that a family…….. We don’t fly solo.” The “Shame” singer also claimed that although some of his Fast & Furious costars were offered spinoffs, they chose to turn them down.
Diesel posted a photo of himself with Gibson and the late Paul Walker alongside a caption that read “Brotherhood…” on Thursday, October 5, which lead to speculation that the action hero was siding with Gibson. Diesel and Johnson famously feuded on the set of The Fate of the Furious, after Johnson ranted about his male F&F costars in an August 2016 Instagram post, writing, “My female co-stars are always amazing and I love ’em. My male co-stars however are a different story. Some conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don’t. The ones that don’t are too chicken shit to do anything about it anyway. Candy asses.” Diesel later tried to downplay the feud by saying, “I think some things may be blown out of proportion.”
As previously reported, Fast and Furious 9 was set to be released in April 2019, but Universal Studios postponed the premiere date for undisclosed reasons.
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